The parent companies behind a major Australian gym chain have quietly collapsed into administration after becoming embroiled in a messy $5 million court case with several disgruntled franchisee owners.
UFC Gym Australia, which at its peak had more than 10 fitness centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and the Gold Coast, is a mixed martial arts gym franchise founded in 2009.
But late last month, on May 23, Ultimate Franchising Group Pty Ltd, UFC Gym Prospect Pty Ltd and Ultimate Franchising Group Properties Pty Ltd all went into voluntary administration.
These companies held the master franchise agreement for UFC Gym Australia.
The administration came a day after two companies behind UFC Gym were ordered to pay $5.2 million to three franchisees when a court found the company and its directors had “engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct” during the process of selling said franchises to them.
The voluntary administration means those three franchise owners may struggle to get a cent of that money.
Karim Girgis, the former owner of UFC Balcatta in Perth — a co-owner of one of the three franchises that took the company to court and won — feels “quite dirty” about the whole process.
“The payment (of $5.2 million) was…